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Author Topic: Films films filmsy films.  (Read 1240970 times)
Richie Wellen-Dowd

« Reply #6465 on: Thursday, May 28, 2020, 21:50:21 »

I did similar (fairly) recently, and watched it for the first time since it came out (or I downloaded it just after). I thought the opposite, that it had aged really well!

Never really thought the people not having kids needed an explanation. It not only fits really well into a sort of canon of the stiff upper lip british cosy(ish) semi-post-apocalyptic fascism, not too far away from a John Wyndham classic, but still seemed relevent under a brexity shadow of a misdirected empire hangover that only the British can do.

I honestly thought that some of the way it was shot, although not looking bad, had sort of aged badly because it's been done to death. All that post-private-ryan shakey cam bullets feel like video games more than movies now. I do remember the scene with the baby crying still holding up though.

Sorry blah blah blah.

It wasn't people not being able to have kids that I struggled with, it was why one new baby was important? Presumably the Human Project were to try and understand how it was possible and replicate it, but that doesn't explain it as a threat to the regime, or how the other group would use it to start an uprising. I'm normally happy enough to not have things completely laid out for me or for things to be left open ended. For some reason this one just frustrates me.
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BambooToTheFuture

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« Reply #6466 on: Thursday, May 28, 2020, 22:13:22 »


I honestly thought that some of the way it was shot, although not looking bad, had sort of aged badly because it's been done to death. All that post-private-ryan shakey cam bullets feel like video games more than movies now. I do remember the scene with the baby crying still holding up though.

Sorry blah blah blah.

Don't apologise, really decent observation. I'm with you in the sense of the shaky cam stuff. I don't need a camera movement like that to feel like I'm with the character etc. Some pictures require it a la Private Ryan and even Cloverfield. The first Blair Witch (that divided opinion) kind of required it, plus everyone was aware that it was pretty low budget.

Personally I'm a fan of some classic cinematography, good use of natural light, haunting stills. The type of stuff that evokes suspense. Along with a good soundtrack/score to boot.
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« Reply #6467 on: Thursday, May 28, 2020, 23:25:30 »

It wasn't people not being able to have kids that I struggled with, it was why one new baby was important? Presumably the Human Project were to try and understand how it was possible and replicate it, but that doesn't explain it as a threat to the regime, or how the other group would use it to start an uprising. I'm normally happy enough to not have things completely laid out for me or for things to be left open ended. For some reason this one just frustrates me.

I'm a few ciders deep at this point so sorry if I get rambly, this his made me think a bit though, which I appreciate!

The British state as it is in Children of Men is straight up Owellian. The power and control comes from the crisis, take away the crisis, those in power lose their control. It's not a particularly original idea, but it never really seems to lose it's relevance. The "Britain keeps on going" (or something like that - been a while) and other background propaganda you see throughout really is full on 1984 "we've always been at war with Eurasia" - not so much because it matters to the story if it's true or not (it doesn't in 1984 either) - but because it's telling the people that however much we take away from you, if you reject it, you'll be left with less. It's the idea that the rest of the world has gone feral, but Britain is better, and the rules and order are better than the alternative. All that power goes if people start having children again, would those at the top give up that power if there was an opportinity for a better life for the majority? (cheat answer: no)

You never find out if the Human Project is any better, but I don't think that's really the point. From the start our main man CliveyOwen has friends both high up in the ruling elite and with the militant rebels. He's not picking a side between the two, he's rejecting both. He finds no safety with the rebels, they are on the same side of the coin as the government, instead he's reluctantly left with no choice other than the alternative. Will it be better than the proto-fascist state we see? We never get to find out.

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flammableBen

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« Reply #6468 on: Thursday, May 28, 2020, 23:35:10 »

SorryI missed out my relevence conclusion.

Our main man - reluctantly and through events - choses the dream of a benign technocrany over the politics of power, even though very little of his experience shows that the former actually exists. Do we give up striving for something better because we don't think humanity is capable of it? If we do then we aren't.
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Richie Wellen-Dowd

« Reply #6469 on: Friday, May 29, 2020, 06:26:33 »

I'm a few ciders deep at this point so sorry if I get rambly, this his made me think a bit though, which I appreciate!

The British state as it is in Children of Men is straight up Owellian. The power and control comes from the crisis, take away the crisis, those in power lose their control. It's not a particularly original idea, but it never really seems to lose it's relevance. The "Britain keeps on going" (or something like that - been a while) and other background propaganda you see throughout really is full on 1984 "we've always been at war with Eurasia" - not so much because it matters to the story if it's true or not (it doesn't in 1984 either) - but because it's telling the people that however much we take away from you, if you reject it, you'll be left with less. It's the idea that the rest of the world has gone feral, but Britain is better, and the rules and order are better than the alternative. All that power goes if people start having children again, would those at the top give up that power if there was an opportinity for a better life for the majority? (cheat answer: no)

You never find out if the Human Project is any better, but I don't think that's really the point. From the start our main man CliveyOwen has friends both high up in the ruling elite and with the militant rebels. He's not picking a side between the two, he's rejecting both. He finds no safety with the rebels, they are on the same side of the coin as the government, instead he's reluctantly left with no choice other than the alternative. Will it be better than the proto-fascist state we see? We never get to find out.



Interesting thoughts, thanks. I could see the how the birth could be used as propaganda(it's even suggested that the regime would give the child to a black British woman), I just struggled to see how it would make the huge difference as was alluded to. I find that part a cop out to be honest, although I do tend to expect a lot from things! I'm a big Orwell fan as well, so ashamed to admit I hadn't picked up on the background details particularly.

I normally like things that are left hanging too, so I would have been content with the ending if there was a little more detail about the Human Project. Even a vague idea would have let my mind travel a bit. The ending made me think of Tsotsi(for me a much better but lower rated film), and how it ends abruptly without answers but left a debate raging in your mind.
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flammableBen

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« Reply #6470 on: Friday, May 29, 2020, 07:25:19 »

Ha I don't half talks some randomness when I'm pissed. Cheesy

Give me 10 cans of cider and I'll waffle a C- level 500 word essay on how the original Jurassic Park is a warning against the neo-liberal drive towards deregulation and how it's particularly prescient in this time of post-brexit trade negotiations, drawing parrallels with the book Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell.  
« Last Edit: Friday, May 29, 2020, 07:31:46 by flammableBen » Logged
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« Reply #6471 on: Friday, May 29, 2020, 16:38:12 »

I watched The Eagle has Landed last night for the first time. Not quite sure how i've never seen that before. Michael caine as a nazi who speaks perfect english. That must have been a tough job.
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flammableBen

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« Reply #6472 on: Saturday, May 30, 2020, 00:18:29 »

I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet,

They sent me a giraffe (giraffe pic),

He was too tall,

So I sent him back.



I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet,

They sent me a "look mate, this isn't really how zoos work. Are you getting us mixed up with pet shops? They probably have more domestic-apropriate animals. Here's a Snake just in case."

He was too scary, so I sent him back.



I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet,

"Hey! We've just sold off Sodor Island to an American congylomeratey. Got the trains and Dinosaurs now. Here's two tickets and a chlorinated chicken. What can go wrong?"

My granddad was an Attenborough, so I went.

Speilberg should have killed off one of the kids. Fucking coward.




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« Reply #6473 on: Saturday, May 30, 2020, 07:29:34 »

A pint of what he had please landlord.
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Peter Venkman
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« Reply #6474 on: Saturday, May 30, 2020, 07:32:07 »

A pint of what he had please landlord.
Absinthe and laudanum?
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« Reply #6475 on: Saturday, May 30, 2020, 13:44:01 »

Absinthe and laudanum?

Don't think Artemisia was strong enough to produce that kind of writing  Cheesy
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'Incessant Nonsense'

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'I'm gonna tell you the secret.
There's a threat, you end it and you don't feel ashamed about enjoying it.
You smell the gunpowder and you see the blood, you know what that means?
It means you're alive. You've won.
You take the heads so that you don't ever forget.'
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« Reply #6476 on: Monday, June 1, 2020, 20:27:26 »

Somewhat late, I got round to watching Rise of Skywalker.

Wow. I'm not much of a contrarian but I think that might be the worst film ever made. Obviously it's beautifully shot, well acted, the music is brilliant and objectively it's well made, but considering the inputs that it has it's awful. Like, the script is embarrassingly bad and almost all the narrative choices are utterly unambitious.

I think the best metaphor I can give is when a band with a really great debut album do a second album which is a bit experimental, bit of a tonal change and get a bunch of criticism for it who then go back to everything safe for their third album and sell out. It did everything short of playing Wonderwall to try and send everyone home happy...
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« Reply #6477 on: Tuesday, June 9, 2020, 13:21:04 »

I fear its going to be dreadful.....

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« Reply #6478 on: Tuesday, June 9, 2020, 17:07:55 »

I fear its going to be dreadful.....


i want aware of this until earlier today and i through exactly the same. Some thing are  best left alone.
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4D
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« Reply #6479 on: Wednesday, June 10, 2020, 10:09:56 »

I never liked the originals.
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